Should you enroll in a UX Bootcamp?

Okay guys, I’ve been training, and it’s been making me think.

First things first: what am I training for? I’m going to my first ever jiu-jitsu competition, exciting stuff! I’ve been hitting the gym, drilling certain jiu-jitsu techniques, and trying to drop a little weight to make my weight class.

I also need to work on my cardio, care to join me? You know you should be exercising, so hop to it soon if you haven’t been!

A Short Review of Adobe Max

I wish I had more positive things to say about Adobe Max, but honestly I was pretty underwhelmed. Sitting in on talks that should have been interesting to me still were pretty boring, which was a major bummer.

It seemed like most of the content was either very high level or very basic. I didn’t hear much about how to run a business, how to address client needs, or action items that I could really implement.

Still, since Adobe Max was free I’m not going to knock Adobe or how they chose to run it. Someone who is not me may have enjoyed the celebrity pep talks and inspirational bullshit, and if so that’s great. I just couldn’t drum up enthusiasm for the short, low-information sessions they had.

In all fairness, I did not watch every session. So if you had a favorite session or a speaker you think I should check out further, let me know!

Talking Quibi

Next up, let’s talk about this fresh little disaster: Quibi. Theý’ve been suffering from the jump, right? The short-form entertainment concept, the celebrities and stars… it just hasn’t been enough.

It looks like they spent a lot of money on building their platform, producing their own original content, and paying for talent, but there seems to be a missing piece of the puzzle. In my opinion, that missing piece is familiar content.

Think about any successful streaming platform, such as Netflix. They make a ton of new content, but they also always have familiar, classic shows and movies that make users happy to stick around. A lot of people do watch new content, but there’s just something comfortable about also having the option to access more familiar things too.

Quibi brought in familiar faces, but that’s not the same thing as familiar content. Not at all.

Another big mistake: they brought in people that are known for long-form content, and had them make short-form content. It’s the people like you and me that are used to making short videos, not these celebrities! 

So if Quibi was trying to change user behavior, this was a big fail. Long-form content is ingrained in our minds as consumers, and nowadays being able to switch between devices is standard. Why would people pay for shorter content that they can only watch on their phone, and only in portrait mode?

Unfortunately, Quibi has really dropped the ball on this one. And now they’re trying to blame it on the pandemic, and on people not commuting. That’s just not a good look for a platform that made these choices apparently without really thinking things through. It takes more than 10-minute content to change user behavior.

UX Bootcamps

Remember how I said I’ve been thinking about training? Here’s why: I hear from a lot of people with the same few questions, but here’s one that kind of rubs me the wrong way. It’s usually something like this:

“Eric, is there a bootcamp/course/program/book that will teach me UX for free?”

“Eric, how can I get UX training for free?”

This makes me wonder, why do people think that educating themselves is going to happen for free? The people who ask me this usually already have some other education. Was that free?

I know that people hear me say I didn’t finish my UX bootcamp, and that’s true. But not finishing is not the same thing as not investing. I spent the money on those resources and then at a certain point I didn’t need to keep using them. I still had skin in the game. And I eventually increased my salary by 30K, because I was willing to put in the work in combination with what I was learning.

Let me put it this way: anything that’s worth it, is worth investing in.

When it comes to UX bootcamps specifically, I believe they’re worth it if you can use them to get a job. Especially if you don’t have a design background, a bootcamp could be a great place to get started.

Make sure you do your research and take your own learning style into account. Do you need a lot of structure, or are you a self-starter who will take initiative with only loose sets of instructions? Some courses are completely self-paced, is that a good fit for you? Or do you need a program that is set up more like a classroom, with more accountability?

Some options to check out include Springboard, which relies a lot on your own motivation.

Or for more structure, Georgia Tech’s boot camp. It’s not a casual program: this costs about $10,000. But you’ll get all the structure you need, individual attention and real people to study and interact with. It’s basically like a mini UX team, with conflict resolutions, and decisions to be made.

A lot of people cringe when they think about spending 5-10K on a bootcamp. I get it, I really do.

But if you use that investment to work towards a big salary increase, it can be very worth it. And that’s why I don’t like when people focus on getting free resources, because long-term that just doesn’t give you as much opportunity. Investing in yourself is necessary for almost any real growth.

Take my YouTube channel and podcast as examples. I had to invest in the equipment, microphones don’t grow on trees! I invest my time regularly, and I’m sharing my knowledge as best I can. I do it for fun, but it sure isn’t free. That’s not a complaint, that’s just reality.

When you approach investments as a positive thing, you will reap the benefits much more than if you just take what you can get for free. Yes, there’s a lot you can learn for free! But mindset is important, so just be careful that you’re still coming at this from a positive angle.

What About Certification?

I don’t actually believe that certifications are what will make or break your UX career. I don’t have one, and I’m doing fine! Most companies care much more about your portfolio and your capability than any piece of paper you can show them.

That’s why I’m such a big advocate of building your portfolio quickly, and applying for jobs even before you finish your bootcamp. When the right opportunity presents itself, you don’t want to have your nose buried in a class with no chance to even notice it!

Whatever you’re not putting into your portfolio, and whatever jobs you’re not applying for, those are the opportunities that literally can’t become yours.

You don’t need to know everything right away. You don’t even necessarily need to be a UX unicorn. You just need to show up, and prove that you are ready to be a good asset to that team.

I hope this encourages you to move forward with a bit more confidence! You can get a UX job without a bootcamp. You can start a bootcamp and move on any time you’re ready. And you can invest in a program that makes sense for you, and apply for jobs as you go.

You have options, so now’s the time to get a step or two ahead. Keep a positive attitude, and like I always say: don’t just be a unicorn, be an ugly unicorn.